Rock-a-Bye Bear

It's impossible to describe just how funny and clever some of the old cartoons are. This one is unforgettable. 45 years later I just opened my eyes today and giggled thinking about it after hearing my dogs downstairs. Just like that. Shortly thereafter, watched it for the first time in as many years. So damn proud of that generation and the heroes it produced.

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. 'Rock-a-Bye Bear' is an example of an animated masterpiece and one of his all time best, it is a cartoon of amazing quality, is very creative and hilarious, the violence (lots of it and big in scale) used in an inventive and tasteful way and it is a situation also that anybody can relate to if they've had their fair share of disturbed nights.

Spike is very funny and likable, very easy to be amused at but feel sorry for, but the star of 'Rock-a-Bye Bear' is Joe the Bear. He bags the biggest laughs (which are hilarious) and is someone you don't want to get on the wrong side of. Bill Thompson voices Spike marvellously, but top honours go to Daws Butler, some of his best voice work in an Avery cartoon.

Typically, Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour style all over it as can be expected.

Once again there is nothing sadistic or repetitious, instead it's imaginative, wonderfully wild and hilarious throughout from start to finish.

It is no surprise either that the animation is superb, being rich in colour and detail. The character designs are unique, Avery always did have creative character designs, and suitably fluid. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed.

Summing up, an Avery masterpiece. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This is, in my opinion, one of the best cartoons ever made, and a semi-classic. The cartoon has such a simple premise, however, Tex Avery is able to carry it off successfully for the length of a 7 minute cartoon. Definitely one of my favorite of all time.

More than once, Tex Avery used the idea that it was in someone's best interests to maintain quiet and someone else wanted the opposite. Here we have a bear with an almost pathological hatred of noise (except his own). Efforts to maintain quiet result in sight gags galore of the usual variety in an Avery cartoon and are very funny. The bear steals the cartoon. Most recommended.

When Federator.com linked this cartoon from YouTube and mentioned the short's premise in the blog, I had to watch this again since I remember laughing at it so much in the late '70s when I was a kid watching the weekday afternoon "Tom and Jerry" show where Tex Avery's Rock-a-Bye Bear was showcased. In a nutshell, Spike the bulldog has a job to watch a bear stay hibernated during winter. Trouble is, another dog wants that job and since the bear is constantly shouting about wanting complete quiet and usually wakes up at the slightest noise, that other dog does everything in his power to make sure Spike loses his job. Fortunately, Spike always finds a way to go way outside to avoid the sleeping bear's ears...Just as hilarious as I remembered it and that bear-voiced by Daws Butler in a Southern loud mouth tone that sounds like a bellicose Huckleberry Hound-provides some of the cartoon's highlights along with all those tricks of that other dog. All I can say after that is, if you love Tex Avery, you'll definitely love this cartoon!